Bairstow's chance to prove he belongs

Jonny Bairstow has had to bide his time with England in one-day cricket. He has had opportunities, 27 games to be exact, but has often been filling in for someone else, holding the fort while another player was either injured or rested. Not anymore. The upcoming five-match series against Windies, beginning on Tuesday (September 19), is Bairstow's chance to finally cement his place in this team.

England captain Eoin Morgan confirmed that Bairstow will open the batting in the first match of the series at Old Trafford. He replaced Jason Roy in that position for the semi-final of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan back in June, scoring 43, and has kept his place. Roy's recent ODI form has been poor, scoring just 51 runs in his last eight matches, and although England value the selfless way he goes about his batting, it is time that Bairstow had his chance.

Earlier this summer, England's Test wicketkeeper scored 72 not out from 44 balls against Ireland in an ODI at Lord's. Morgan spoke after that match of being impressed by Bairstow's capabilities in white-ball cricket but said he wasn't, at that stage, in England's best seven one-day batsmen. Ahead of the Champions Trophy and with a batting line-up that had moved England's limited-overs cricket to swashbuckling new batting horizons, that may have been the right call then. But it is surely the right call now to give Bairstow his chance to shine.

The Yorkshire wicket-keeper is a fine one-day batsman. Bairstow is not as explosive as Roy but is a naturally free-scoring batsman in a more classical manner than the aggressive, testosterone fuelled Surrey opener. Bairstow scores his runs at just under a run a ball in List-A cricket and has recently added to his game the capability to clear the ropes - he made 174 off just 113 balls for Yorkshire against Durham earlier this season which included seven sixes. He is also quite a brilliant runner between the wickets.

Yet it has taken Bairstow six years to play just 27 matches. His returns in international ODI cricket have been consistent - he has made only two single figure scores in his last 17 innings - but it was an unbeaten 83 from 60 balls against New Zealand in June 2015 which won the game and the series and which proved Bairstow had a white ball future for England. Such has been the quality and depth of England's one-day batting since then, though, there has been no obvious opening for him in the team.

Bairstow had not opened in ODI cricket for England before the Champions Trophy semi-final. He has spent most of his time at numbers five and six but finding a permanent spot in England's ODI middle order is not easy. Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali are shoe-ins as brilliant one-day players and all-rounders and Morgan is the captain. Bairstow can't bat at seven because that would mean the team only having five bowlers, one too few.

"He has been waiting in the wings for an opportunity like this and Jason has been out of form," said Morgan. "We feel this is an appropriate time to make the change and like everyone we try to give them as big a run as we can to try and build confidence but we feel the selection of Jonny is justified - he is a fantastic player and this is an opportunity for him to make it his own as well."

Given the balance of the side and the players available, Bairstow's only chance to cement his long-term place in England's ODI team is as an opener. That means this series is a chance he has to take. Alex Hales and Roy have been England's first choice opening batsmen in limited-overs cricket for the last two years and the latter will not be easily discarded. Bairstow will have to keep him out of the side through weight of runs. Those runs need to come quickly, too. This is - finally - his chance.